From the makers of the phenomenal, trend-setting "psycho murders peel artists" milestone "Stripped to Kill" and the outstanding offbeat existential vampire horror knockout "Dance of the Damned" comes this grim, tough, unflinchingly realistic down'n'dirty exploitation thriller about young, strung-out, totally on her own illiterate Venice Beach, Los Angeles prostitute Dawn (a strong, unglamorous, very endearing and somewhat startling performance by Christina Applegate; Kelly Bundy on "Married ... With Children"), a fiercely self-reliant teenager who turns tricks in order to eke out a meager existence and support her heroin habit. Dawn has a near-fatal run-in with brutish, sadomasochistic sleazy teen hooker killing cop Lumley (a cogent, creepy, live-wire portrayal of frighteningly deep-seated seething psychosis by Ed Lottimer), who relentlessly stalks Dawn and savagely picks off her scruffy homeless street people pals throughout the rest of the movie. David Mendenhall offers a solid and likable turn as the naive, slumming rich kid who develops a crush on Dawn and gets caught up in her tawdry and thankless day-to-day lifestyle.
"Streets" is something of a surprise: it's a gritty, gutsy little B picture (Roger Corman gets credited as the executive producer) that successfully manages to relate a compact, seamy, highly credible slasher narrative while simultaneously delivering a rich and vivid exploration of how unemployed folks at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder somehow manage to barely squeak by and how people with real power and authority in our society can get away with cruelly preying on those hapless and helpless individuals whose utter powerlessness and political vulnerability make them easy targets for constant victimization. Katt Shea Ruben's sturdy, no-nonsense, unsentimental direction (Ruben also co-wrote the rough-edged, pungently insightful script), the garishly lit, evocative cinematography, a brooding melancholy score (the sad, haunting ballad that's beautifully sung by Elizabeth Daily which plays on the soundtrack during the opening and end credits is especially poignant and effective), the top-notch acting (besides the three excellent leads, both Kay Lenz and Starr Andreeff have nice cameos as lady police officers), an authentically grungy depiction of L.A.'s desolate beach-side milieu, and the uncompromisingly downbeat ending all give this shamefully overlooked and underrated scrappy gem a potent scroungy verisimilitude that's extremely compelling and powerful. A real sleeper.
"Streets" is something of a surprise: it's a gritty, gutsy little B picture (Roger Corman gets credited as the executive producer) that successfully manages to relate a compact, seamy, highly credible slasher narrative while simultaneously delivering a rich and vivid exploration of how unemployed folks at the bottom rung of the socioeconomic ladder somehow manage to barely squeak by and how people with real power and authority in our society can get away with cruelly preying on those hapless and helpless individuals whose utter powerlessness and political vulnerability make them easy targets for constant victimization. Katt Shea Ruben's sturdy, no-nonsense, unsentimental direction (Ruben also co-wrote the rough-edged, pungently insightful script), the garishly lit, evocative cinematography, a brooding melancholy score (the sad, haunting ballad that's beautifully sung by Elizabeth Daily which plays on the soundtrack during the opening and end credits is especially poignant and effective), the top-notch acting (besides the three excellent leads, both Kay Lenz and Starr Andreeff have nice cameos as lady police officers), an authentically grungy depiction of L.A.'s desolate beach-side milieu, and the uncompromisingly downbeat ending all give this shamefully overlooked and underrated scrappy gem a potent scroungy verisimilitude that's extremely compelling and powerful. A real sleeper.